STEM scholarship for top NY students falls short of tuition

CHESTER — College-bound high school seniors may want to give Gov. Andrew Cuomo's new $8 million STEM scholarship program some thought before they respond to acceptance letters from private schools.

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By PAULINE LIU

recordonline.com

By PAULINE LIU

Posted Apr. 3, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By PAULINE LIU
Posted Apr. 3, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

CHESTER — College-bound high school seniors may want to give Gov. Andrew Cuomo's new $8 million STEM scholarship program some thought before they respond to acceptance letters from private schools.

The reason: Only about 2,000 out of the nearly 200,000 high school grads will get any money from the program.

And the "full" scholarship is $4,000 to $6,000 a year.

Compare that with the annual "full" price tag of $17,000 and up annually to attend one of the state's 64 public college campuses.

The tuition-free program for this fall's incoming SUNY or CUNY freshmen majoring in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) was approved earlier this week in the state budget.

Candidates to be selected must be among the top 10 percent of graduating seniors in their high school. They will be required to sign a contract agreeing to pursue a STEM career in New York state for five years upon graduation.

Morris Peters of the state division of budget says the maximum award in the 2014-2015 academic year is expected to be about $6,000.

While Cuomo isn't expecting the top 10 percent of every high school to apply for the program, some school administrators in the mid-Hudson are questioning if it's being underfunded.

"I don't know if $8 million is going to be enough, but I guess the most scary number is the 2,000 (students) because there will probably be more than 2,000 seniors who will qualify and the state needs to do the math," said Leslie Hyatt, principal of Chester Academy, which has about 80 graduating seniors.

Hyatt said Chester Academy has at least a few seniors who've applied to SUNYs and want to look into the program.

"Students are in the process of accepting colleges and we're a very middle-class school district, so our families will be interested in getting more information about this," she added.

Sullivan County's largest school district, Monticello, also has a number of "seniors who definitely fit the qualifications," said Lori Orestano-James, principal of Monticello High School, which has a senior class of about 220.

"At first glance, it looks very promising and any money is welcome to students and their parents; we will explore it further,"added Orestano-James.

Assemblyman James Skoufis, D-Woodbury, who is still fighting for passage of his proposed a free SUNY and CUNY tuition program for all in-state students, called the Cuomo plan "a step in the right direction."

"We need to do much more to truly make college more affordable for all New Yorkers — too many families are struggling to pay for school and too many students and graduating with a lifetime of debt," said Skoufis.